To Serve Man
Rum

Mojito

Glass
Highball

Havana's classic five-ingredient highball, rum, lime, sugar, mint, and soda, descended from El Draque.

rum cuban classic pre-tiki built sparkling mint lime
Scale
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Ingredients

  • mint
  • white cane sugar (2 tsp)
  • fresh lime juice (0.75 oz)
  • white Cuban rum (1.5 oz)
  • soda water
  • mint sprig

Instructions

  1. In a tall highball glass, place 6-8 fresh mint leaves and white cane sugar.
  1. Add fresh lime juice and muddle gently, bruise the mint, do not shred it.
  2. Add white Cuban rum and stir to dissolve the sugar.
  3. Fill the glass with cracked ice and top with soda water.
  4. Stir lightly.
  5. Garnish with a mint sprig.

Sources

  1. Curtis, And a Bottle of Rum (2006), El Draque / Mojito chapter, narrates the 1586 Sir Francis Drake / Havana El Draque origin (aguardiente, mint, lime, sugarcane juice) as a medicinal anti-scorbutic and traces its evolution into the rum-based Mojito by the late 19th century. ↩
  2. "Mojito." Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojito (accessed 2026-05-03), secondary-source corroboration for the El Draque / Drake-crew origin theory and the etymology debate ("mojo" Cuban seasoning vs. "mojadito" / lightly wet); paired here with Curtis as supporting context. ↩
  3. El Arte de Hacer un Cocktail y Algo Más (Havana, 1927), first printed "Mojo Criollo" recipe, often cited as the earliest documented mojito-form spec under that name; standard reference in Cuban cocktail historiography. ↩